Wells Fargo Sees Increase in Participant Loans

An analysis of 1.9 million participants in employer-sponsored
401(k) plans recordkept by Wells Fargo found average loan size increased as
well, by 8%. This trend was mostly driven by participants in their 40s and
50s.

Wells Fargo also found a slow, steady decline in the single
style or “pure” equity holdings of participants across the book of business;
the majority of these assets are being shifted to managed investment products
(such as target-date funds, model portfolios, balanced funds, AdviceTrack).
Much of this shift toward managed investment products is concentrated in the
younger and more recently hired participants, and is driven in large part by
the prevalence of managed products as default investments.

Seventy-four percent of participants now hold assets in some
type of managed investment product.